INEOS to purchase K-Resin business from CPChem

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS Styrolution has announced that it signed an acquisition agreement for the global K-Resin styrene-butadiene copolymers (SBC) business of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. (Chevron Phillips Chemical) and Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd., the current joint venture owners, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the intended purchase price or any other financial details. The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, includes the purchase of the equity interests of K.R. Copolymer Co. Ltd (KRCC), K-Resin SBC intellectual property and other assets related to the SBC business. This acquisition, once completed, will allow INEOS Styrolution to supply its customers from production sites in the Americas, Europe, Middle, Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific.

The acquisition underlines INEOS Styrolution’s commitment to its "Triple Shift" growth strategy with a strong dedication to its styrenic specialties business, well-balanced split across all focus industries and improved global presence.

K-Resin SBC and INEOS Styrolution’s existing SBC brands Styrolux and Styroflex complement each other well. The combined business will offer a broad selection of SBC products to customers across the globe. The broader SBC product portfolio will enable the combined business to better serve its customers.

"This measure marks our first acquisition and drives the further implementation of our Triple Shift growth strategy. We will strengthen our ability to offer specialty styrenics products to our customers, and increase our production capacities in Asia. Our customers will benefit from our ability to supply and support their world-wide demand from our expanded geographic footprint, with SBC manufacturing and research and development centers in all major regions, and from the well-known premium K-Resin SBC brand," says Kevin McQuade, CEO INEOS Styrolution. "With this investment we will further enhance our global presence in styrenics."

Chevron Phillips Chemical and Daelim Industrial Company founded KRCC as a joint-venture in February 2000. The K-Resin SBC plant is located in Yeosu Petrochemical Complex, the largest petrochemical complex on the southern coast of South Korea.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, in May 2016, INEOS Enterprises reached an agreement in principle, to sell INEOS Styrenics, its Expandable Polystyrene Business (EPS), to Synthos S.A. for EUR80m. INEOS Styrenics produces high quality Expandable Polystyrene (EPS) for the building, construction and packaging industries at manufacturing sites at Wingles and Ribecourt in Northern France and Breda in the Netherlands. The three production sites are supported by its technology Centre in Breda, which is a purpose-built research, development and product testing facility, including a research laboratory and pilot plant facilities. Customer Service, Logistics and Finance groups are also located in Breda. The business employs c. 250 people who will transfer as part of this deal. And in early September 2016, INEOS Enterprises completed the sale of INEOS Styrenics, its EPS business, to Synthos S.A. for EUR80m.

INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global demand for biodegradable polymer market was valued at around USD1.68 bln in 2014 and is expected to reach approximately USD5.18 bln in 2020, growing at a CAGR of slightly above 21% between 2015 and 2020, as per Plastemart with reference to A to Z Research.

Rising demand for biodegradable and bio based products due to sustainable development policies and growing concern for use of environment friendly product is the main driver for the biodegradable polymer market.

Government support to produce eco friendly biodegradable polymer is also the key factor for the growth of market. Escalating price of crude oil which is raw material for the production of petroleum based polymer also helps tin driving the demand of biodegradable polymers. However biodegradable polymers have few applications to replace synthetic petroleum based plastic materials and high manufacturing cost and failure in production of accurate biodegradable polymers may influence the market growth. Rising end-user applications and economical raw material price for biodegradable polymers is offering potential market opportunity in the years to come.

The biodegradable polymer market is segmented on the basis of type, application and region. Polymers with hydrolyzable backbone, polymers with carbon backbone and natural polymers are the types of biodegradable polymers. Polymers with hydrolyzable backbone is classified as polyglycolic acid (PGA), polycaprolactone (PCL), polyamides, polyurethanes, others in which polyglycolic acid (PGA) is the widely used followed by polyamides and polyurethane. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is one kind of polymers with carbon backbone, whereas amylopectin, starch, amylose, chitin and chitosan and others are types of natural polymers. Starch based polymers is one of the leading segment due to easy availability, and extensive application in food packaging.

Biodegradable polymer has broad range of applications in packaging, agriculture and medical. In medical application, biodegradable polymers are used in adhesive prevention, drugs deliver system and surgical sutures. Further, biodegradable polymers are utilized in agriculture mulches, and starch based packaging, cellulose based packaging and PLA based packaging among others.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, Evonik is expanding its production facilities in Birmingham (Alabama, USA) and Darmstadt (Germany). This will create additional capacity for the production of biodegradable polymers marketed globally under the brand names RESOMER and RESOMER SELECT. These poly-lactic-glycolic-acid (PLGA) copolymers are primarily used to manufacture bioresorbable medical devices and controlled-release formulations for parenteral drug delivery.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical production company Spolek pro Chemickou a Hutni Vyrobu (SPOLCHEMIE) will launch new chlorine production facility in fall 2016, after two years of construction, said Praguemonitor.

New membrane electrolysis testing began in October 2016 and will continue until the facility’s launch. As CIANEWS has previously informed, the total costs of the construction and launch of the new source and related infrastructure amount to almost CZK 1.9bn. The electrolyse is now safer, more energy saving and environment-friendly. The facility complies with European legislation on the utilisation of mercury in the production of chlorine and alkali lye.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2015, SPOLCHEMIE restarted epichlorohydrin (ECH) production following planned maintenance at its Usti nad Labem site.

Spolchemie a.s. manufactures synthetic resins. It offers environmental friendly products, epoxy resins, alkyd resins, hardeners and reactive diluents, other synthetic resins, systems for construction, hydroxides, chlorine chemical substances, and other products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US refiner Phillips 66 expects a permit will be granted to build an oil pipeline under the Missouri River near Native American land in North Dakota, said Hydrocarbonprocessing citing Chief Executive Officer Greg Garland.

"There's not that much left to be finished once we get the easement to go underneath the Missouri River," Garland told analysts on a conference call. "So I think that can be wrapped up in relatively short order."

In a tense standoff in North Dakota that spilled into Friday morning, police arrested 141 Native Americans and other protesters seeking to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline intended to carry crude oil to the Midwest. Phillips owns 25% of the project.

The US Justice and Interior Departments along with the US Army Corps of Engineers halted construction under the Missouri in September due to protests by Native American tribes who say the pipeline would disturb sacred land and pollute waterways supplying nearby homes.

Construction is continuing on sections of the pipeline away from the Missouri River, Garland said.

The USD3.7-B, 1,100-mile Dakota Access would be the first to carry crude from the Bakken shale, a vast oil formation in North Dakota, Montana and parts of Canada, to an existing pipeline in Illinois through which it could be shipped to refineries along the US Gulf Coast.

As MRC informed before, Phillips 66 and Chevron Phillips Chemical are teaming up with the Sweeny Independent School District in Texas to help fund the creation of a petrochemical academy.

Phillips 66 is an American multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Texas. It debuted as an independent energy company when ConocoPhillips spun off its downstream assets and midstream assets. Phillips 66 began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 1, 2012, under the ticker PSX. The company is engaged in producing natural gas liquids (NGL) and petrochemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell’s third quarter 2016 CCS earnings attributable to shareholders were USD1.4 billion compared with a loss of USD6.1 billion for the same quarter a year ago, said the company on its site.

Third quarter 2016 CCS earnings attributable to shareholders excluding identified items were USD2.8 billion compared with USD2.4 billion for the third quarter 2015, an increase of 18%.

Compared with the third quarter 2015, CCS earnings attributable to shareholders excluding identified items benefited from increased production volumes mainly from BG assets, lower operating expenses more than offsetting the increase related to the consolidation of BG, and lower well write-offs. This was partly offset by the decline in oil, gas and LNG prices, and increased depreciation mainly resulting from the BG acquisition, and weaker refining industry conditions.

Third quarter 2016 basic CCS earnings per share excluding identified items decreased by 8% versus the third quarter 2015.

Cash flow from operating activities for the third quarter 2016 was USD8.5 billion, which included favourable working capital movements of USD0.7 billion.

Total dividends distributed to shareholders in the quarter were USD3.8 billion, of which USD1.1 billion were settled by issuing 44.1 million A shares under the Scrip Dividend Programme.

Gearing at the end of the third quarter 2016 was 29.2% versus 12.7% at the end of the third quarter 2015. This increase mainly reflects the impact of the acquisition of BG.

A third quarter 2016 dividend has been announced of USD0.47 per ordinary share and USD0.94 per American Depositary Share.

As MRC informed earlier, in mid-October, Royal Dutch Shell has signed a preliminary memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran’s National Petrochemical Co. (NPC) for cooperation in the petrochemical industry.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC